The Extinguishing of a Dragon
by Xythus
Summary: Dragons are rare, rare enough to be missed immensely why they're gone. The Dragon of the West, the Great Iroh of the Fire Nation and of the Tea Shop, is dying, a loss to be measured to that of a dragon's. Read and Review please!


**Zuko's POV:**

The gates had already been earthbended open in anticipation of the group. The guards, instead of their usually green uniforms were dressed in something similar in design, but the color was black. Zuko knew exactly why and he hated it, hated it with every being in his body. He wished to rip the clothes away from the guards, even though that wouldn't exactly be, well, appropriate. He wished to tell those guards to take off their mourning clothes because they weren't suitable, but in reality they were and he knew it.

"Zuko, are you okay?" He gripped the reins of his rhino even tighter and looked around to see most of the gang looking at him with concerned eyes or well, feet in Toph's face. It had been Aang who had spoken. "Yes, I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?" he replied, knowing that his voice wasn't exactly convincing. It screamed of pain, anger, and most prominently of all, love. "Well, your un-"

"Shut-up Sokka! I know why we're taking this wretched journey to Ba Sing Se. So just shut-up!" Though he was older than he had been at the end of the war, Sokka still was just as facetious as he had been as a teenager. But now being an adult, he had a whole new arsenal of jokes. Zuko found that fact alone annoying and so did the rest of the gang sometimes. But he still loved the wolf-warrior all the same. He had become like a brother to him. Zuko had had no right to snap at him. "I'm sorry for snapping. I was just upset." he said, not turning to look at his friend.

"It's okay Zuko, I understand." Sokka truly did understand, having losing several of his family members also. "Zuko, if you want to talk about it, we're here for you, all of us." Zuko looked behind him to see Katara, Aang, Sokka, Toph, Suki, Ty Lee, and Mai all staring at him with solemn, but loving eyes. His eyes teared up a bit before he turned forwards and spurred his rhino into the city. The rest followed on their respective vehicles.

"Fire Lord Zuko?" A man wearing the mourning-guard uniform had planted himself in the middle of the road. His face expressed utmost sadness as he cleared his throat to speak once more. "It has been requested that I guide you and your friends to the place where your uncle resides." Zuko nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. He slowed his rhino to a steady pace and began to follow the guard.

After traveling about twenty leagues, the assembly stopped at a tall building with a red cross standing at it's head. Though a pearly white in the daytime, it seemed a gloomy gray now, being dark and all. Even the brightly glowing stars couldn't cast a ray of cheer on it, rightly so. The group dismounted their animals and attached them to the different poles outside of the building. They then walked towards the door where the guard was standing, his face now expressionless. The man cleared his throat rather ashamedly and pointed to the door, which had the symbol of the Earth Kingdom on it. Zuko had no clue why he wasn't opening the door until Toph stepped up and stomped her left foot to the ground, opening the door. Zuko went forth first, his stomach churning wildly, something common to him, being the Fire Lord of course.

Like the rest of the building, the first floor was white and it was lit by several candles contained in lanterns. They hung eerily on the ceiling. The rest of the gang came in afterwards, their expressions now sad. Mai, her belly rounded with pregnancy, came up to him and put her arms around his skinny frame. Zuko turned towards her and responded likewise. Tears slipped from both of their eyes, knowing that their first child might never get to meet his great uncle, both in blood (as Iroh would be the baby's great uncle) and in spirit. "Fire Lord Zuko?" He released his wife and turned around to see a nurse, looking at him with remorseful eyes. "Yes?" he said, his throat thick with tears. Someone put a hand on his shoulder. Zuko brushed it away, but politely so.

"Your uncle wishes to see you now." The nurse, who had come from upstairs, began to make her way up the stairs again. Everyone else followed, but she stopped them about halfway up. "Due to the state of Mr. Iroh's condition, I think it is best for only one or two people to come and visit him at the moment. The rest of you can remain downstairs and find a place to relax or sleep. We have plenty of spare cots." Zuko beckoned Mai to remain. The rest gave him sympathetic smiles, or frowns in some cases, before heading back downstairs.

Once they reached the top, there was another earthbending required door waiting for them. The nurse opened it with a quick stomp to the stone stairs and revealed a long hallway, lit by ceiling lanterns. Zuko clutched his wife's hand and they proceeded after the nurse who made her way to the room at the end of the hallway. On the door, there was a sign that said: 'Mr. Iroh, In Intensive Care'. Zuko swallowed back a cry before the nurse earthbended the door open. Zuko swallowed and tried to get his feet to move forward, but it was nigh impossible. They remained firmly planted. Mai rubbed his back comfortingly and he turned to kiss her lightly on the head before walking in.

His uncle was covered in tubes. There were two connected in his nostrils that supplied oxygen to him. Joined to those tubes was a machine that pumped the oxygen, an invention created by the Mechanist a few years ago. It had apparently been dubbed a lifesaver. Zuko hoped that the words were true. He looked over to see that there was a tube running up his arm. Inside it, a clear fluid was seen streaming into Uncle's arm. There was also a tube running from out of the blankets near his uncle's lower body. Zuko didn't even want to think about what that tube was used for. "Zuko?"

**Iroh's POV:**

"Uncle!" His nephew ran towards the bed and kneeled beside him. His legs were crushing the tube which supplied oxygen to him. He gasped for air. Without the tube, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe at all. "Nephew… The tube." Zuko leapt up horrified, his eyes forming tears. "I'm sorry Uncle, I'm truly sorry." His nephew then ran out of the room, leaving his wife behind. Iroh shed a tear at Zuko's departure. It sorrowed him to see his nephew so grieved, even at the slightest notion that he had inconvenienced him. But that was Zuko, sensitive and caring as always. Iroh looked to see Mai walking over to his bed with tears also in her eyes. She knelt down beside him and clasped his hand with slender fingers. A single sob racked her body, a sentiment that warmed him strangely, but understandably. As a teenager, she had been pretty much devoid of emotion. It was the same as she entered adulthood. But gradually, she began to show other emotions besides boredom. By the time she and Zuko were married, she was capable of showing more emotions that Krista Stuwart, an Ember Island Player who was only capable of showing the emotion of weakness… Everyone was thrilled at that discovery. But overall, she was a great person for Zuko, something Iroh was glad of. Zuko needed someone like Mai to keep him in check, especially with all the emotions he could hold.

"Mai, you look so pretty." He rasped, watching out of the corner of his eyes as the nurse left the room. He assumed she was going to see if Zuko was alright. "Thank-you Uncle. And you look so…" Iroh laughed, but stopped abruptly. His chest had hurt. "Yes, I know. I look absolutely devastating." It was true. In the last year or so, Iroh had declined from a fat, healthy old man to a skinny, unhealthy old man. "No Uncle, you look handsome." Mai said, attempting to compliment him, but Iroh could see the shock in her eyes and he couldn't blame her. "I see that your baby is growing big." He said, smiling. He was happy for his nephew and his wife. He was happy that they were having a baby. He just wished that he knew he would live long enough to see their children. "Thank-you. I think he's going to be a strong one." Mai said affectionately, stroking her stomach. Iroh raised an eyebrow. "He?"

"Yes, he. I'm pretty sure it's a 'he' anyway." Iroh smiled once more before coughing. His chest hurt from the simple exertion. "Uncle?" He looked up through weak eyes to see that Zuko was standing in the doorway. "Come here Nephew, please." Mai got up and went to sit in a chair in the corner. Zuko came a knelt where she was, tears dripping from his face. Iroh pained to see his nephew in such pain because of him. He wished Zuko no pain at all. But there was seemingly no way to alleviate his nephew's pain, unless his nephew chose to alleviate it himself, that he learned from the past. Iroh reached out with a trembling hand and touched Zuko's face, just like he had when Zuko had been a young boy. "Zuko, don't be sad. My destiny is not in your hands, nor mine. It is in the spirits' hands." Iroh withdrew his hand as Zuko laid his head down on the bed. His head touched the side of his body, causing a sharp pain to course through him, but he refused to let any emotion show, knowing Zuko would withdraw and run away again, an action that was instinctive in his nephew's case.

"But I don't want you to die Uncle… You've become a father to me. You've become a father to almost everyone in the gang… You even reached through to Azula and became a true father to her…" Iroh took his hand with the tube in it and began to stroke Zuko's head. His head was inclined as to not reveal his tears to his already heartbroken nephew… It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of dying; he was just afraid of what him dying would do to Zuko. "Nephew, listen to me. Even though I may die in this old, worn body, I will be forever with you in your heart, in your friends' hearts, and in Azula's heart. Nothing will ever change that." Iroh kept stroking Zuko's head even though the effort exhausted him… He didn't want his nephew's last memories of him to be of weakness. That memory would torment him for the rest of his natural heart. No, Iroh had to appear as happy and strong as possible because being the opposite of those things could break the delicate balance which was Zuko's mind, just like it had with his sister who had gone crazy because her world had shifted out of balance when her father, usually somewhat affectionate towards her, had disregarded her… Fire could be strong and beautiful, but it could also be fragile and unstable when hit by the wrong wind.

"But it won't be the same Uncle." Iroh bowed his head at that, knowing that Zuko was choosing not to avoid his pain, the path he had take when Iroh had advised him to rest from his battle with his father such a long time ago. Zuko was like that, determined until the end. "Nephew, don't lose your way because of my passing for I am irrelevant on the large scale of nature. Instead, when I die, help others find their way in memory of me because those who find their way, find peace, and that is what I seek, peace for all of the world, even though that's highly unlikely, but still help others and you'll be helping yourself in remembering me." Iroh stroked his nephew's head once more before closing his eyes sleepily, his hand still on Zuko's head.

**A/N: What do you guys think so far? Is it too fluff-filled? I, in my opinion, thought it seemed really sad, but that's just my opinion… Review please!**

**Review if you get the Ember Island Player actress reference!^^ No pun intended, well yeah pun intended. No offense to Kristen Stewart fans; I just couldn't resist, even though this is a mainly sad story.**

**Q: Do you think I made Zuko overreact too much when he choked off Uncle's oxygen line? I'm not sure… **

**Also, in a later fanon, I may give depth to Iroh's reaching out to Azula when she's in her asylum. It just depends on how popular the idea gets or/and if I find the desire to do it.**


End file.
